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Beyond Théoden, a ribbon of light curled across the sky. He looked away from her reflection to watchit twine once around the Spire, then dive and disappear.
"Time to start," he said, in a voice which soundedshort of breath. He stood, and Madeleinewas unable to stop herself from taking a step back, but if Théoden noticed hegave no sign. "Go to this point onthe floor below."
Madeleine hesitated, then obeyed, perhaps because he waswalking toward her and she was not sure if she could deal with him anycloser. Her mind raced as she headeddown the stair, keeping well ahead while she tried to guess his plans. When she reached the window there was no signof movement in the park below, and so she watched the reflection of a boywalking up behind her, stopping perhaps two metres away.
"Is it time for another of the challenges?" sheasked, mouth dry.
"Buenos Aires. The Core and two others of the Five will be gone till dawn. Think about how Nash survives."
She frowned at this apparent non sequitur, and behind her theboy who was not Fisher held out a hand as if to brush fingers against the backof her neck. He'd stopped too far awayto make this possible, but the angle of reflection made it seem that they'dtouched. She could not begin to describehis expression.
I'm going to push," he said, barely audible. "You will react. But I am glad, Madeleine. Thank you for the courage to do this."
Turning sharply, Madeleine drew breath to speak, and let itout in a gasp as a hammer-blow of emotion struck her. Grim determination. Fear. Fury. And wound through it all afine, cutting thread of concern.
"S-stop!" This was not like the Core's assault. She was not drunk, defenceless. The storm of identity collided with roiling strength, and it tookeverything Madeleine had to hold back an automatic blow. "Th–!"
He struck again, intensifying the assault, and the roil ofpower Madeleine contained hit back. Nottangled with a shield, as had happened on the beach, but a blast of pure will,of self, and it was like a starburst, a sudden blooming of white and blue, andfor a moment before her stood a boy, and above him a Moth.
Then the light went out of them both, and they crumpled tothe floor.
"Stop," Madeleine repeated, and dropped to herknees.
Fisher lay on his back, eyes open, blank. The Moth – Théoden – was just behind him, acrumpled kite. She'd killed them both.
The tower was silent. Neither Moth nor boy moved. Madeleine knelt, at a complete loss, unable to understand why Théodenwould tell her to think of Nash, then–
Groaning, she scrambled forward on hands and knees. When a Moth left a Blue, the Blue died. There'd been no stories of a Blue livingthrough the end of possession. But whenhad any Moth tried to revive one? CPRwas an obvious thing to attempt, but Madeleine had a better example. A leech Blue, needing a daily dose of energyto survive. Théoden had all but drawn amap.
How much? Athread? A jolt? Surely not the crushing blow which had struckthem down. She pressed her handstogether on his chest, and measured out a dose of desperation and panic,cha
Lifting her hands, Madeleine sca
Madeleine drew back, suddenly unable to touch this boy shehad undressed, this stranger she had kissed so thoroughly. She looked instead at the crumpled creaturebehind him. A flattened paper lantern.
Easing over to kneel beside that alien shape, Madeleinestudied the network of fading blue lines which suggested an almost humanoidfigure. But it was a pattern on a kite,no true body. No eyes, no limbs, noheart. She held out her hands anyway,placed them over a central point. Herpalm sank into a chill surface, and she drew it back. Then, trying to keep to the very surface,Madeleine sent out a measure of confusion and regret. With it came gratitude, and a deep note ofstronger emotion. Briefly the blue linestook on a brighter hue, which almost immediately faded.
Tears wouldn't come. The need for them was a tight pressure in her head, her chest, butMadeleine was at the bottom of a well, and everything was distant. To her right Fisher lifted a hand, turned itto study the palm, opened and closed it.
"What did you do with that food?" he asked, stilllying on his back.
"...second floor freezer."
The words came out tiny, squeezed past the lump in herthroat, but he seemed to have managed to hear her, sitting up, then standing ina single, fluid motion. He didn't turn,paused only a moment to stare out at the Spire, then circled left along theouter wall of windows.
Everything inside Madeleine had snarled into a tight,vicious-edged lump, knotted beyond untangling. She watched the colour fade out of Théoden until, after what wasprobably a long time, or moments, Fisher returned. He stood very still, looking at the creaturewhich had stolen his body then given it back.
Without comment he moved to Madeleine and held down to her aplate. Once-frozen chocolate cake,microwaved until the icing had melted and run. She had never felt less inclined to eat, barely turning her head enoughto see what it was. Fisher hesitated,then took the plate over to the window, set it on the sill, and sat beside it.
"I know this is extremely hard for you..." hebegan, then stopped. Long seconds tickedby, and when he spoke again his voice was halting. "I have no idea how to feel aboutyou. There is...I have a great deal ofemotion for you, but I don't know how much of it is mine. I suppose you – I – " He paused again, then changed tackscompletely, becoming crisp and businesslike: "In around five hours theCore will return. There's a great dealto do before that. Although it'spossible for me to manage it without you, the chances of success are muchlower."
It made it easier to have him focus on the larger issues, tonot go anywhere near how either of them might feel. And through the barbed wire wasteland whichfilled her, Madeleine had discovered a direction.
"I could do that for Noi, and the others, couldn'tI?"
"Yes." Hisrelief at her response was obvious. "In fact Noi is thecrux of the plan, since she's been taken by one of the Five."
"Does this plan include some way to get out of thistower?"
"We jump off."
That was enough to make her turn to him, and she suspected ithad been intended to. He was frowning ather, that angry expression she'd learned could mean whole layers ofemotion. As soon as she let herself seehim, this tall, ski
"Tell me what to do."
ooOoo
Circling the upper turret of Sydney Tower was a walkway whichled to two glass-bottomed platforms projecting over the edge of the mainfloors. The Skywalk. Madeleine and Fisher stood on the platformfacing south-east, a light breeze exploring the vulnerabilities of theirjackets.
"That hotel," Fisher said, pointing left and almostdirectly below. It sat on ElizabethStreet: two sets of terraced balconies joined by a rectangular main building,all with an uninterrupted view to Hyde Park and the Spire. An immense distance down. "Noi is in the section on ourright. We'll be going in through anaccess door from the roof. Aim for theleft of the central building, beside that pool. The shape you practiced should give good control of speed and direction,but if you miss, head to ground level and meet me at the corner of Market andElizabeth."